Yesterday as I was preparing for dinner I heard my son holler, “MOM, come look quick!” As I walked over to our back door and looked outside I saw the most beautiful vibrant rainbow. We could actually see the end of the rainbow resting on the roof of a house on the street below ours. Above the bright rainbow was a second rainbow making the view even more majestic. I quickly ran downstairs to grab my camera so I could snap a photo. By the time I came back upstairs the second rainbow had almost disappeared and the main one was already beginning to fade. I snapped a few photos to capture the moment anyway. Here’s what we saw.

Every day I try to take the time to look for something in nature that brings a smile to my face. Sometimes my children are the ones who point things out to me, like today. We live in a beautiful world and I’m grateful for the ever changing seasons and the beauty they bring with them. What captured your eye today?

I’ve been doing a lot of deep thinking lately with regards to life disciplines. It’s interesting to look around and observe others while also reflecting on my own personal life. I’ve been asking myself, “What life disciplines can I implement into my own life to improve and become the best that I can be, in all areas of my life?”

I suppose I can attribute the deep thinking to a recent class I took called Quantum Leap – Purpose, Direction and Personal Power. I’ve taken the class twice before but it’s been years since the last time I took it. It always provokes reflection and deep thinking, while also providing the direction needed to move forward. I guess the statement, “Third Times A Charm” worked. Even though I’ve gained a great deal from the past classes, for some reason this time the material is sinking in and REALLY making a difference.

One of the segments of the class reviews the various areas of our life where discipline is not only required, but very important, to success. Here is a breakdown of the 6 key areas of our life where discipline is critical:

Self-Discipline – This section reviews the model habit, the mindset habit and the proactivity and persistent action habit.

Spiritual Discipline – This section reviews the authority habit, the prayer and meditation habit and the thankfulness and gratefulness habit.

Time Discipline – The section reviews the play time habit, the pay time habit and the organization time habit.

Money Discipline – This section reviews the gross income habit, the 70/30 rule habit and the value/accountability habit.

Growth Discipline – This section reviews the ability habit, the leverage habit and the new capacities and repairs habit.

One of the statements that I really liked from the above section of the class was this, “Your current level(s) of happiness and success are determined by your current disciplines and habits. To change your level of success, you must change your disciplines and habits.”

“Success always involves personal fulfillment and you are only truly fulfilled by counterbalancing your actions in harmony with your purpose in life.” This statement really got me thinking. I had to ask myself, “Are my actions in harmony with my purpose in life?” “What is my purpose in life with regards to the above 6 key areas?”

I then had to take a step back and analyze my perspective. I had to tell myself, “Success is an Inside Job”. Whether or not I achieve success in any of the 6 areas listed above is my decision. It’s my choice. You know the saying, “If it’s going to be it’s up to me?” Well, that statement is true. We cannot blame others for our failures or expect others to hand over “success” on a silver platter. WE are the determining factor in the outcome. If we are not achieving the way we would like then we need to look deep within ourselves and ask,”WHY?”

Life is not just about achieving, it is about BECOMING. Are we becoming the person we want to be? I really like this statement from the class, “Our real fear for our life should not be that we don’t achieve – it should be that we don’t become.”

Ask yourself this question: When do you grow the most in your life? When you succeed at something or fall short?

Sometimes we are afraid of trying because we fear that we might fail. The point is this…The more you try in life the more you will fail. The more you grow physically the more you’ll grow spiritually. The more you grow the more you will become. So, essentially you need to go out into the world and fail a lot so you’ll grow a lot.

I know that many of you reading this are thinking to yourself, “Did she just tell me that I need to fail a lot?” Yes, I did. Of course, you are not trying to fail on purpose, but if you never TRY anything then you will never have success. Sometimes we have to fail our way forward. It is through our commitment to pick ourselves up when we fall that we eventually achieve the success we desire.

Think of it this way: At a higher place there is no success or failure. There are just levels of spiritual payoffs. Our first powerful perspective is to understand that in order to become the most we can become we have to get out in the physical world and try, try, try and never ever give up!

You have to accept the fact that your thoughts control your actions and therefore your future. Here are a few great quotes and insight into this idea:

Lester Sumrall, in his book “Imagination: Hidden Force of Human Potential” said it best when he wrote:

“…Until a person can correct and control his thought life, he cannot correct his real life of actions. We must get inside to learn to discipline the thought life before we can discipline the hands and feet…”

“…Your abilities are really not according to your learning or your education. Your abilities are according to your imagination. If you can see it (in your minds eye), you can bring it into being.”

Robert Stuber, in his audio-tape program “Creating Your Ultimate Destiny” says this:

“Actions are the physical result and manifestation of mental decisions. …Your thoughts control your actions – thus your life. …A mind of great thoughts has no room for small thoughts…”

Napolean Hill, in his book “Think and Grow Rich” wrote:

“Everything is a state of mind. this includes health, wealth, and happiness. For example, if your thoughts are on health – the best health possible for you will come to you. Your mind can become your greatest asset – or your worst nightmare, depending on how you care for it!”

To be human means to have choice. We decide what we will do with our life.

Stephen Covey says this:

“Whether we are aware of it or not, whether we are in control of it or not, there is a first creation to every part of our lives. We are either the second creation of our own proactive design, or we are the second creation of other people’s agendas, or circumstances, or of past habits.

The unique human capacities of self-awareness, imagination, and conscience enable us to examine the first creations and make it possible for us to take charge of our own first creation, to write our own script.”

“It’s a principle that all things are created twice, but not all first creations are by conscious design. In our lives, if we do not develop our own self-awareness and become responsible for first creations, we empower other people and circumstances outside our circle(s) of influence to shape much of our lives by default.”

Do we really want to live our lives by default? I don’t. We need to recognize that we will only get out of this life what we are willing to put into it. We can, AND MUST, play the leading part in our own lives. We determine who we will become through our thoughts and our actions.

Once you have your thoughts in the right place, and you have determined the key habits and disciplines needed in your life, you then need to commit to the process of mastering the basics of the subjects you have decided matter most in your life. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Focus on the basics.

You know the old 80/20 rule? In 1897 Vilfredo Pareto discovered the pattern underlying the 80/20 principle. While studying patterns of wealth and income in 19th Century England, Pareto found that most income and wealth went to a minority of the people. Rather than site all the facts related to this principle I’ll share a few examples of how this works:

1. In 1963, IBM discovered that about 80% of a computer’s time is spend executing about 20% of the operating code. The company immediately rewrote its operating software to make the most-used 20% very accessible and user friendly, thus making IBM computers more efficient and faster than competitors’ machines for the major applications.

2. In the U.S. from 1973-95, average real incomes rose by 36%, yet the comparable figure for the non-supervisory workers fell by 14%. During the ’80’s, all the gains went to the top 20% of earners, and a mind-boggling 64% of the total increase went to the top 1%!

3. 5% of U.S. households own about 75% of the household sector’s equity.

4. A study of 300 films over an 18-month period found that 4 movies – just 1.3% of the total – earned 80% of the box office revenues! The other 98.7% earned only 20%.

If you were to review your closet you would probably realize that you only wear about 20% of your clothing 80% of the time. You probably only use 20% of your possessions 80% of the time as well. In any given business approximately 20% of the activities bring in 80% of the revenue. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

In short, you need to get down to the basics. The reason you first master the basics is that the basics are always the 20%, and it is this 20% that always provides you your greatest leverage. Most people don’t get this principle. They spend most of their time doing the 80% that doesn’t really matter. It’s those key disciplines, the 20%, that bring the greatest results.

Leveraging your time and focusing on the 20% that matters most will change your life. The greatest levels of mastery and success are possible when you get the things done first that matter most. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. How you spend those hours is what makes the difference. You must make sure to spend your time making sure the most important things get done first. It’s easy to procrastinate. I know I do. By focusing on the 20% that matters most when you first wake up you will see more progress and success than by focusing on the 80% that matters least.

Sure, it’s easy to say all this (above), but let’s be honest, it’s a lot harder to DO IT. That is where the discipline comes in. We can read it, we can believe it, we can say it, but it will never happen unless we DO IT. We have to take ACTION.

When I completed the P90X Challenge a few months ago I had to take action and commit to being disciplined to complete the workouts 6 days a week for 90 days. It was hard, REALLY hard. I was sore every single day. My body hurt and there were days when I really did not want to do it. What kept me going was my commitment not only to myself, but to you (my readers). That’s when I truly understood the importance of accountability. When we hold ourselves accountable, or even better, have a coach to hold us accountable, we perform better. Why do you think so many pro-athletes have multiple coaches? They know there will be days when they will struggle. Having a coach helps to keep them accountable. In business, the same thing applies. Having someone to report to helps hold us accountable to our goals.

My mind has been stretched in many ways the past few months and it is liberating to recognize my true potential and the course that will get me there. As stated in the beginning, there are 6 key areas of our life where discipline is required. Don’t try to tackle everything at once. Start slowly, start with one area first. The key here is to JUST START!! You must be ACTIVE. You can either make life happen the way you want it or let life happen to you based on other peoples decisions. The choice is yours. I’m choosing to be actively involved in my life and make my life the best it can be. What will you choose?

Why is it that some people achieve at a higher level than others? Typically, when you look closely, you will find that they have implemented key life disciplines that they follow with superior focus. The truly great ones also excert a great deal of effort counterbalancing. They realize that it is impossible to maintain constant balance in all areas of their lives and so they implement the process of counterbalancing.

You may be asking yourself, “What is counterbalance?” Well, in order to understand the principle, just think about how you drive your car. If you are driving on a straight road you must still move your steering wheel slightly to the left and to the right to maintain a straight course. Bumps in the road, the wind, and other factors are constantly moving your car, ever so slightly. In order to maintain a steady path you must “counter” those outside influences through very small movements of the wheels, this in turn will keep you on the straight path you desire. So it is with life!

In order to have proper focus and discipline in our lives we must have goals and dreams. If you don’t know what you’re aiming for you will never achieve it. The first step is to have a vision of what you want. Then you must do your research and determine the proper course for achieving your goal. Once you have determined the proper course, you must implement key disciplines in your life that will help propel you in the direction you desire. You must also have superior focus with the end in mind.

You may be thinking to yourself, “I know what I want, but I’m not sure how to get it.” If that is the case, then you must look to others. Study the lives of other people who have achieved the same desire you have. How did they do it? Study their lives and figure out what the key disciplines were that they implemented into their lives. Then…model them. Do what they did. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. In most cases, there are others who have achieved what you want to achieve. If they have succeeded, they have probably already learned a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. Learn from them. By modeling them you will often shorten the process and achieve success quicker than if you try to do things “your way”.

Maintaining proper focus is probably just as difficult as abiding by the key disciplines you implement. It is easy to get distracted and discouraged along the way. You must find ways to motivate yourself and you must know WHY you are trying to achieve your goal. What is your BIG WHY?

Having a goal is important, but perhaps what is even more important is understanding WHY you have that goal. If you don’t know WHY you want to achieve your goal then you will never be able to have the focus, and implement the key disciplines, long enough to achieve them. Understanding the “WHY” is the most important part. If you talk with highly successful people you will often find that their BIG WHY is what drives them to achieve. Knowing WHY they want to achieve their goals is critical to their success and helps them maintain focus along the way.

You will always be confronted with obstacles when trying achieve your goals. The question is whether or not you have a big enough WHY to overcome them. Knowing the WHY will improve your focus and chances for success.

Here are some questions to ask yourself?

1. What is my goal or dream? (DREAM BIG)

2. Why do I want to achieve it? Why is it important to me?

3. What will I do once I’ve achieved my goal? What will I do with my success?

4. Who has already achieved that goal, or a goal that is similar? Do I know them? If not, is there information available about them that I can study to see how they achieved it?

5. What key disciplines did they implement in their life to achieve the success they have?

6. How did they maintain their focus?

7. What acts of “counterbalance” did they implement in their life to help maintain their focus?

8. How important is my goal/vision? Am I willing to commit to achieving success by implementing the same key disciplines as those who have succeeded before me?

9. When will I begin? What is my target date for achieving success?

My challenge to you is to DREAM BIG! Then, take some time to determine your BIG WHY. If you have a WHY that is big enough to propel you forward then you will have a higher chance of success. Once you know your BIG WHY figure out the HOW. Study others who have achieved similar success and determine the KEY DISCIPLINES that you need to implement in your life. When you FOCUS on WHY you want to achieve your goal it will help motivate you to adhere to the KEY DISCIPLINES you’ve set for yourself. REMEMBER…you will never have perfect balance in your life, but if you FOCUS on the state of constant COUNTERBALANCE then in essence you will appear to have balance.

None of us are perfect. We all stumble and fall along our JOURNEY called LIFE. What is most important is that we continue to pick ourselves up and move forward towards our dreams and goals for a better future. Others do not determine our success or failure. WE DO! The question is whether or not we are willing to do what it takes to achieve it. Ultimately, it always comes back to US. We determine our future. We can create it, or we can let outside influences create it for us. What will you choose to do with your life?

We just returned from a fun filled family vacation at the cabin. Many thanks go out to my husbands family for making our time with them so much fun. This post is dedicated to my father-in-law and his wife so they can share in the many photos we took from our time with them.

“The Cabin at 10 Acre Woods” is a favorite place for my family. We have spent many vacations there and when we’re not all able to go back we’ve sent our children to spend time with their grandpa in the summer’s. Life moves at a slower pace when we’re at the cabin. We rarely look at a clock or worry about the time. We just sit back, relax, and have fun!

The kids love to spend time in the lake and that is where much of our time is usually spent. The cabin sits on 10 acres with 1000 feet of waterfront on a spring fed lake. The water is crystal clear and refreshing to swim in. Launching the floating dock out into the lake is always a fun adventure. My three boys took on the task this year and had a blast doing it. Here’s a few photos of the launch and anchoring it down so they could jump off it.

Here's our three boys as they push it out into the lake to begin the process.

Once the dock is pushed away from the shoreline the kids scramble to get into place so they can begin paddling it out farther into the lake. James had the easy task of enjoying the ride while his brothers paddled them out into the lake.

Getting ready to paddle...

I love this photo of my boys. They had so much fun taking the dock out into the lake so they could jump off and swim in deeper water.

I love this photo of my three boys!

Jeffrey decided to be the first to jump in so he could test the depth of the lake to make sure they’d moved it out far enough into the lake. Big brother, Jonathan, dropped the ladder so Jeffrey could climb back up. I love this photo because it actually looks like Jeffrey is walking on water…

Jeffrey wanted to be the first to jump off!

James decided to be next to jump off and didn’t waste any time jumping in. Jacqueline, Jim and Patricia all made their way to the dock rather quickly as well.

James has no fear of the water and jumped right in! A big thank you goes out to my niece, Tiffany, for spending the last two summers teaching James to swim stronger and better. He absolutely LOVES swimming now!

Knee boarding was one of the funnest adventures this year. My daughter, Jacqueline, could hardly wait to go! She had spent time at the cabin last year with her cousins and knew how much fun it was. She was amazing and it was so much fun watching all of her crazy expressions as my husband tried to make her task more challenging. After Jackie had her turn she decided to show her youngest brother, James, how to knee board. He had never been before but learned very quickly. He amazed all of us with how quickly he was able to get up on his knees. Here’s a few shots of their adventure.

Jackie just had to show off a little…

Enjoying a sweet ride.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Jacqueline as she maneuvered all over the lake…

Loving the ride.

Jackie decided to stay in the water as she taught James what to do. Little did we know that she would end up staying in the water for much longer than she planned. James got up so quickly that we had to leave her in the middle of the lake as James cruised around on the knee board. Thank goodness she had her life jacket on and there weren’t any other boats on the lake. James had a blast smiling at her as he cruised by, multiple times, as we took him around the lake.

Teaching her little brother how to knee board.

Here’s James in the water getting ready for his first try…

Learning the ropes from his big sister and getting ready to begin.

Here is James as he just begins his first run. One minute he was laying down and the next minute he had jumped up onto his knees. My husband and I kept looking back and forth at one another saying, “Did you see that?” We were shocked he got up so quickly.

So excited for his first turn on the knee board.

Here’s my little boy enjoying the ride…

Absolutely LOVING this new sport.

It’s usually pretty warm at the cabin so the kids spend lots of time in the water. My oldest daughter joined us at the cabin and brought my granddaughter with her. Ady had lots of fun checking out the water! Here’s a few photos of the kids and the lake.

Ady checking out the water for the first time…

Jess had fun dipping Ady's toes in the water to get her used to it before putting her legs all the way in.

Ady getting knee deep in the water…

I love how excited she is. She was giggling at the new sensation of standing in the lake and feeling the soft sand on her toes.A few of the kids are patiently waiting for Grandpa to come take them inner tubing. I love how peaceful and still the lake is in this photo.

Jess & Ady watching as the kids take off inner tubing with Grandpa…

Sitting on the dock watching as the kids take off to go inner tubing with Grandpa.

This was one of the first photos I took at the cabin. The kids could hardly wait for their first dip in the lake…

This is where we spend a great deal of time swimming.

Here’s a view to the south of one of the docks showing the various boats kept on the property for enjoyment. I realized after reviewing all my photos that I didn’t take a turn in the paddle boat this year. I love going out in that and peddling all over the lake. Oh well…there’s always next time.

Just a few of the many fun things to do on the lake.

Here’s a view looking north of the dock showing the shoreline. The water seemed a little higher this year as it came all the way up to the grass & trees. Normally when we go there is a few feet of sandy beach along the shoreline…

One of the days we spent at the cabin the weather was a little on the chilly side. My father-in-law decided to head outside and chop up some wood to stock up for the winter. Jessica, Jonathan and James decided that sounded like fun and followed him outside to help. Little did they know that the weather would turn wet and they’d end up finishing in the rain. They were all great sports and didn’t seem to mind the rain at all.

After spending some time watching his older brother chop wood, James decided he wanted a turn. Grandpa was kind enough to find a saw for him and took some time teaching him how to saw off some of the smaller, lower branches on the nearby trees that could be used for kindling.

Jonathan helped chop up a lot of the wood and then he and Jessica loaded it all up into the wood shed. Yes, they got a bit wet…

I love this photo of my father-in-law! The kids had so much fun working with him to chop up the wood.

Are you wondering what the cabin looks like? Well, here are a few photos of the cabin and the property surrounding it. It’s so peaceful here that I always feel like I could spend my entire summer here. My father-in-law and his wife bought the property years ago and have spent a great deal of time improving the property and the cabin over the years. When my oldest two kids would go back to spend summers with them it was just a tiny one room cabin that they built by hand. The original cabin is still part of the house today. They added the larger section about 10 years ago along with indoor plumbing and electricity.

Here’s a photo of the cabin and deck.

Here’s a view of the side of the cabin showing the smaller section, which is the original, hand-built, cabin. It has a screened in porch facing the larger main deck today.

A huge deck surrounds the south and east sides of the cabin offering plenty of space for BBQ’s and relaxing. They have fabulous lighting around the outside in the trees and down the railings of the two staircases.

We had a couple of huge campfires at night and made S’mores one night (which were delicious I might add).

Our vacation time at the cabin would not be complete without our family photos taken on the stairs. We do this every time we go and its fun to see how the kids have grown over the years.

I can’t forget to include some photos of the rest of our extended family that we saw while visiting.

Here’s Jim and three of his siblings.

Here’s a photo of my husband and our two daughters and granddaughter.

I love this photo of Jacqueline and my granddaughter Ady. It seemed that every time I turned around someone different was carrying Adalynn in the pack. Fun times!

My wonderful husband. This photo was taken as we were cruising up the Mississippi river on a paddle boat.

Jim and I on the boat on the Mississippi river.

Two of my beautiful nieces. We had so much fun spending time with them and their parents.

Jackie and her aunt Kathy. Jackie actually had no idea that Kathy was behind her when I snapped this photo. Kathy saw me getting ready to take it and quickly leaned down to get in the picture. Jackie was so surprised when she turned around after and saw Kathy so close. It was actually quite funny!

Mary Kate was FABULOUS with Ady and spent a great deal of time playing with her while we were visiting them. Ady loved every minute of it too!

My sister-in-law, Ginger, and my niece Kelianne.

My oldest son, Jonathan.

The spectacular view from my sister-in-law’s (Kathy) house. I LOVE her view!

My post would not be complete without a few more photos of my kids and granddaughter…

My youngest son was thrilled to find this fountain after our cruise on the Mississippi River. As soon as I’d snapped this photo he immediately took off his shoes and cooled his feet off in the water.

I think James started something because pretty soon everyone was taking off their shoes and dipping their toes in the cool, refreshing water.

James was thrilled when his Uncle Pat let him ride his motorized scooter! When we went for a walk that night he rode it right along beside us the entire way. He thought that was the coolest toy ever! Thanks Pat for sharing your toy with him.

My two youngest boys had fun swinging with their niece on the porch of their Aunt Kathy’s house. Jeffrey spent many hours curled up in this hammock chair reading a book. The temperature was perfect out on the screened porch and the view was spectacular.

Uncle Jeffrey and Ady

Here’s James and Ady taking their turn in the hammock chair. James was making sure to hold her in safely so she didn’t fall out.

This is one of my favorite photos of Adalynn. The colors are so vibrant. She sure was a great sport and so happy the entire time. I kept telling my daughter that she was blessed with the perfect baby! Ady was always happy and smiling for everyone.

Adalynn had lots of fun hanging out with her Grandpa Jim. Here she is sitting on her grandpa’s lap out on the deck at the cabin.

Even though my son-in-law wasn’t able to come with us on this trip he was always just a phone call away for my daughter. Here Jess is talking to Ry on the phone as we hung out on the porch of Kathy’s house. Good Food, Fabulous Family & Lots of Fun!

My two daughters and my niece spent a quiet afternoon hanging out with me on the porch. Much needed “Girl Time”. Ady had fun hanging out with the girls.

I snapped this tender photo of Adalynn the night before we flew home. She had crashed on my bed and was sleeping so peacefully that I just had to take a photo. She had a fun filled busy week and was all tuckered out and ready for a good night sleep.

Well, that’s about it for my photo journey of our vacation. I have literally hundred’s of photos that I took but thought I’d share these so that our extended family could see some of the pictures from our trip. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. Thank you to all of our family who made this trip so much fun! We Love You!!

Choose a path that will lead you forward. Hold firmly to the truths you know. Make sure you choose the "RIGHT" path. Only you, and God, will really know what that is.

I feel as though I have come full circle in many ways. What exactly does “full circle” mean? Well, if you imagine a circle, and you begin at any given point on that circle, and move in one direction, eventually you will end up in the same spot you started. How do you jump away from that circle and move in a new direction? First, you have to recognize that you are moving in a circle and STOP.

Once you have stopped, assessed where you are and where you’ve been, you can be purposeful, and gracefully step outside the circle and create a new path. This is where I find myself today.

You know that old saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” well that is absolutely true. Often, when we tap into the minds of others, we realize that we truly “don’t know what we don’t know” until we ask the right questions. Suddenly, our minds are enlightened and we learn and grow in ways not possible before.

I know that I have not been posting on my blog daily like I first intended to do. However, the past couple of months I have been experiencing a great deal of growth intellectually and spiritually. My mind has been flooded, day and night, with new inspiration, thoughts and ideas, that have moved me down a new (but also old) path. New because I am seeing things differently this time and my mind and heart have been enlightened to new ways of doing things. Old because the basic mechanics are the same.

The past couple of years I have spent a great deal of time reflecting and observing, not just on my own life but the lives of those around me. Recently, I have spent a great deal of time “stepping outside the box” so to speak, and asking questions of others. My questions were purposeful. As I dug deeper and deeper into conversations, I began to see and understand things from an entirely new perspective. My eyes have been opened and my vision is much clearer.

It seems as though each and every day I am surprised by something new that I learn. As I embark on this new (yet also old) journey, it is with new eyes and clearer vision that I see the path before me. This time I will not be traveling in a circle, this time my path is straight and moving in one direction only. That direction is forward.

Stop and ask yourself these questions:

1. How can you find out what you don’t know?

2. Are you asking the right questions to the right people?

3. Do you ever feel like your traveling in a circle? Doing the same things over and over again, getting the same results?

4. If those results are not the results you want, then how do you step outside that circle and achieve the results you want?

5. Are you achieving the results you want in the job/career you’re in? If not, why?

6. Do you keep traveling in the same circle? Maybe your career choice is the right one but you keep traveling the same course because you refuse to take off the blinders and see things from a different perspective. Or, perhaps there’s a different path altogether that you should be taking.

7. When was the last time you stepped outside the circle and evaluated your progress? Are you moving forward or backward? If you’re moving in a circle does it really matter? YES, it matters!You have to GET OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE and choose a path. Preferrably one that moves you forward.

Take a few moments, right now, to sit back and think about the direction your life is moving. Are you moving forward, backward, or in a circle. We are always moving in a direction, the question is, “What direction are you moving?”

I had to laugh today when I received this photo of my granddaughter via text. Eating can be so exhausting when you’re little. At least she fell asleep with a full tummy.

I remember the days when my children would fall asleep in their high chair, or even at the table, with their face in their plate. This picture brought back so many memories that I had to laugh.

Do you ever feel this way after you eat? Have you ever fallen asleep at the table? I know my children have. Usually when it happens it is after a long day of playing hard. That’s when I know they’ve had a great day! Their little bodies just get tuckered out and no matter how hard they try they just can’t stay awake. Oh, to have that luxury of drifting off to a deep, sound sleep and having someone carry you to bed.

I’m so glad that my daughter and son-in-law captured this sweet photo for me today! It makes me feel like I’m a part of her daily experiences even though I’m in another state.

If you have little children, take a moment to snap a photo of something in their everyday routine and send it to their grandma or grandpa. Trust me, it will make their day!